AMERICAN AIRLINES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY I am going to take a wild guess that probably most of you have heard the news that American Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. There are all sorts of stories out there, so I am not going to re-hash it all. The bottom [...]]]>

American Airlines Boeing 767

AMERICAN AIRLINES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
I am going to take a wild guess that probably most of you have heard the news that American Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. There are all sorts of stories out there, so I am not going to re-hash it all. The bottom line is I think this is a great opportunity for American to take a huge leap forward from being an old, out dated (in more than one way) legacy airline to being a slim-lined and successful carrier. Can they do it? I am not fully sure, but either is anyone else, so we will have to see how it will work out. I think that the airline was already on the correct path and this will allow them to speed up the process a bit.

Out of all the stories I have been reading on this, I would highly suggest checking out these two for more information: Brett Snyder’s story on CrankyFlyer.com and Terry Maxon who writes the Airline Biz Blog, via The Dallas Morning News.

United Boeing 757 and Continental Boeing 737 at LAX in August 2010.

UNITED AND CONTINENTAL AIRLINES GET ONE OPERATING CERTIFICATE

How do two merging airlines know when they are only one? The answer is not easy. It mostly depends on who you are and how you interact with the new airline. Yesterday, United announced that the post-merger airline was approved by the FAA to run under one operating certificate. Previously every Continental flight also had a United flight number. Now there will only be United flights and pilots will refer to all flights as “United,” to air traffic control even if it is an old Continental route.

“I would like to thank the teams at United, Continental, the FAA, the Department of Transportation and the many regulatory authorities around the globe who put tremendous time and effort into our achieving a single operating certificate,” said United’s president and chief executive officer, Jeff Smisek in a press release. “While we have much work ahead of us as we integrate these two great carriers, this is a significant milestone.”

Even though there is one operating certificate, passengers will still need to go to each individual airline’s website to book flights, change seats and check flight status. United is expecting to have only one system during the first quarter of 2012 and at that point, on the most part, Continental will cease to exist and the two airlines will function as one.

Boeing 737 MAX. Photo by Boeing.

BOEING TO BUILD THE 737MAX IN RENTON, WASHINGTON

Being based in Seattle, I was very excited to hear that Boeing will be building their next, next generation 737 MAX in Renton, WA (just south of Seattle). Boeing and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) have not always had the best relationship and it is nice to see that an agreement was reached. The union members still need to ratify the deal next week, but a four year contract and a $5000 holiday bonus should sweeten the deal. This agreement should also end the National Labor Relations Board lawsuit against Boeing for opening a 787 Dreamliner factory in South Carolina.

Previously, it would seem obvious that Boeing was to continue to build the 737 in Renton, but with the recent 787 factory being built in South Carolina, nothing was impossible. Boeing and the union conducted secret talks almost a year before the current contract was to expire and this agreement comes ten months before the old contract expires. This is great and a big round of applause for Boeing and IAM for making this happen.

Read more about the deal from Dominic Gates on the Seattle Times.

American Airlines Photo by Caribb

Being the world’s largest airline has its benefits, but there are also going to be negatives. The larger and more complicated you are, the more that can go wrong. Then add in a merger to the mix and you are just asking for trouble.

United Airlines had [...]]]>

United aircraft in new and old livery.

Being the world’s largest airline has its benefits, but there are also going to be negatives. The larger and more complicated you are, the more that can go wrong. Then add in a merger to the mix and you are just asking for trouble.

United Airlines had a bit of a challenging week this last week and it raises some questions. Even though some mistakes were made, it was sad to see how much of the media grabbed on to the stories, even after the stories were already resolved. Let’s take a closer look at what happened:

UNITED CHANGES ON TWITTER
Previously, United and Continental had two separate Twitter accounts (@UnitedAirlines and @Continental). United had about 194,000 followers and Continental had about 144,000. Having 338,000 followers is quite impressive, but this is where things go wrong. Twitter told United that they can’t combine both accounts. It seems silly that Twitter wouldn’t budge, even for money, but I guess that is how it goes. That didn’t mean that United had to give up all their followers.

With Twitter you can change your account name and still keep your followers. So the question becomes, should the new United take the old United account or the Continental? Sure, alienating either group of followers isn’t the best idea, but neither is giving up 338k followers to start a brand new account — which is exactly what United did.

I really like the idea of United changing their Twitter handle to just “@United,” but they have had one heck of a time getting anyone to follow. Out of 338,000 followers, as of late Friday there are just short of 10,000.

Since the new “@United” handle has been used, it has mostly been interacting with customers who have had bad experiences. Sure, it is great to reach out to your Twitter followers to help them, but if someone just reads the Twitter feed, it looks like nothing goes right at the airline. When responding to a poorly placed ad (see below), they sent the exact same message to over 100 people. That is not the proper way to handle the situation. It is okay to post just one reply to everyone.

I think Delta Air Lines has a slick system with @Delta to keep positive @DeltaAssist to help travelers with issues and @DeltaNewsroom to interact with media. That way fans of the airline that are watching @Delta see positive and helpful information and those customers who have issues still get help by @DeltaAssist.

AD IN NEW YORK CITY
Honestly, I wouldn’t have even known about this ad, except for the fact that United was apologizing to hundreds of people about the ad via Twitter. Anyhow, it looks like United put up an ad that states by ground zero in New York City stating, “You’re going to like where we land.” Okay, maybe not the best call, but come on people. This was an outside ad agency that placed the ad. Do you really think United wants to be associated with what happened on 9/11? They made a mistake, they are correcting it, they are apologizing, now let’s all move on.

REINSTATING 9/11 FLIGHT NUMBERS
With the merger of United and Continental, a computer system assigned the old flight 93 and flight 175 to current Continental Airlines flights. Currently, all flights fly both as United and Continental, so it would appear that United flight 93 and 175, which were involved in 9/11, were flying again. It was an honest mistake that was unintentional.

This was not a group of employees sitting around and deciding to re-instate the old flight numbers. It was more disturbing how big this story got versus what actually happened. Even after the flight numbers were explained, I saw legitimate news sources still waving the “omg why would United do this?” blame flag. I ended up more disappointed in the media than I did with the airline on this one.

New Branding at Chicago

CUSTOMER DAY ONE
Say what? I wonder if many of you even know about this. On Wednesday United unveiled their new look and brand at their main hub at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD). United put up all new signs and there are no more tulips to be seen. Even though it is sad to see the tulips go, this was a big day for United, their employees (Continentals too) and even for the city of Chicago. Unfortunately this story got shoved under the rug due to all the other things going on this week.

CONCLUSION
United might have dropped the ball a few times, but what company doesn’t? It just seems that airlines get unfair attention put on them when they do mess up and it keeps the idea that airlines are some evil company.

We can only hope that next week will be better!

It just doesn’t seem to matter how much time passes for the new United Airlines livery. Every time I post something positive about the new United livery, I have lots of folks give their opinion about how much they do not like it. So, today I am posting something for all you new livery [...]]]>

It just doesn’t seem to matter how much time passes for the new United Airlines livery. Every time I post something positive about the new United livery, I have lots of folks give their opinion about how much they do not like it. So, today I am posting something for all you new livery haters out there. The video is a bit raw, but doesn’t stop me from laughing.

You can hate me all you want, but with all three liveries together, I am actually liking the newest one the most. Yes… it has grown on me, what can I say?

Found via @JetCheck and @danwebbage

Okay, after watching this, can you still tell me that you do not like the new United Airlines & Continental livery? Thanks to W, a frequent reader, for pointing this one out.

United has announced today that Continental intends to add Wi-Fi to 200 of their Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft. It is not officially, official that this will happen, but I would imagine it will go through.

If you get confused on who and what [...]]]>

Two will enter, one will leave. Some will have Wi-Fi.

United has announced today that Continental intends to add Wi-Fi to 200 of their Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft. It is not officially, official that this will happen, but I would imagine it will go through.

If you get confused on who and what United and Continental Airlines are right now, you are not alone. Although they will be merging, they are still two separate airlines. This gets more confusing since they have started to re-paint planes and doing joint announcements.

Add to the confusion that currently, United flies fourteen aircraft with Wi-Fi already on their Premium Service (PS). 13 of those aircraft are using Go-Go Inflight Wi-Fi and one is using Row 44. The Continental aircraft will be using LiveTV’s ViaSat-1 satellite internet. Those are a lot of different providers and I would imagine as the merger settles down, the new United will be looking at which service package they would want to provide to the entire fleet. Since the new United has so many international destinations, it makes sense for them to look at using a satellite provider like Row44 or LiveTV.

Becoming the world’s largest airline is not easy. There are a lot of things that still need to be dealt with to make sure the new United has a consistent brand.Time is of the essence since the new United doesn’t want to alienate loyal customers for both airlines during the transition.

To learn a bit more, check out my story on AOL Travel News.

Back in October I got a hold of what I thought was a photo of the first Boeing 747-400 in new United livery, but it turned out to just be a photoshop.

This one is the real-deal and I [...]]]>

This Boeing 747-400 (N127UA) is showing off the new United Airlines livery. Click for larger.

Back in October I got a hold of what I thought was a photo of the first Boeing 747-400 in new United livery, but it turned out to just be a photoshop.

This one is the real-deal and I actually think it looks better than the photoshop.

Once again, I am finding myself liking this livery more and more. I know there are a lot of you out there that strongly disagree. Is it starting to grow on you guys a bit more? If it is not, I bet it might soon.

Thanks to Jon Ostrower (aka Flight Blogger) for posting this photo.

I guess the big news should be that the merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines has gone through. yea, that is big news, the new United is now the largest airline in the world. However, this wasn’t a big shock it was going through. I am a bit [...]]]>

Click for a larger version

I guess the big news should be that the merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines has gone through. yea, that is big news, the new United is now the largest airline in the world. However, this wasn’t a big shock it was going through. I am a bit more excited about these six photos of the new combined livery.

Hmm. When I saw the mock-up on the Boeing 787 I really liked it, especially with the new font. Now, I don’t know what to think seeing it on a real Boeing 737. Well my first reaction is it looks like a Continental Boeing 737 with the wrong title on it. Nothing that different or radical.

I think I will hold my final reaction with a bit more time. Right now my mind is having a hard time processing ”United” on the side of a plane with Continental livery. I am sure after seeing it for a while it will start to look normal. I mean I really like the Continental livery and I like the look of this livery, I just think my brain is having a hard time computing the combination. I didn’t think I would miss the current United livery, but I think I might miss it a bit now.

What are your thoughts?

UPDATE: check out the livery in United Express set up and the new livery on a Boeing 757.

When United and Continental announced their new combined livery, a lot of people were not happy about the font used for “United.” Well, they must have heard, b/c they have changed the font and I like it!

From their merger site: “The new logo displays [...]]]>

The old and new combined livery for Continental and United Airlines

When United and Continental announced their new combined livery, a lot of people were not happy about the font used for “United.” Well, they must have heard, b/c they have changed the font and I like it!

From their merger site: “The new logo displays the combined company’s brand name in capital letters (UNITED) in a custom sans-serif font, joined with the global mark which has represented Continental’s brand image since 1991.”

This doesn’t help those that will miss the United tulip, but I think this is a good compromise for both brands.

This is almost a guest post once removed. Dan Webb over on his blog Things in the Sky had a guest post from his friend Court who made a wonderful graphic showing the histories of both United and Continental Airlines. We are still waiting to hear the [...]]]>

Both United and Continental have interesting pasts

This is almost a guest post once removed. Dan Webb over on his blog Things in the Sky had a guest post from his friend Court who made a wonderful graphic showing the histories of both United and Continental Airlines. We are still waiting to hear the final word on the merger, but I expect it to be approved and the airlines will both move forward. Before that happens, let’s first take a little look back at where both airlines earned their wings (sorry I couldn’t help it).

Check out Dan’s blog to read more and see a larger version of the image.

A lot of talk about United Airlines and the Continental merger. There are quite a few people that aren’t too happy with the new combined livery of the new United Airlines. A while back I found a site that allows people share their photoshopped liveries and [...]]]>

A United/Continental possible livery on a Boeing 747-400

A lot of talk about United Airlines and the Continental merger. There are quite a few people that aren’t too happy with the new combined livery of the new United Airlines. A while back I found a site that allows people share their photoshopped liveries and a few interesting ones have popped up for a combined Continental and United Airlines livery.

Be sure to check out their site for other possible combinations.

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While I was out of town last week I was trying to keep up on the United Airlines and Continental Airlines merger. The news is pretty old right now, so I am not going re-hash all the talk about it [check Google News for [...]]]>

United Airline's new livery and logo (does it look familiar?)

While I was out of town last week I was trying to keep up on the United Airlines and Continental Airlines merger. The news is pretty old right now, so I am not going re-hash all the talk about it [check Google News for the stories if you haven't heard]. When hearing about the merger one of the things I thought about was the combined livery.

I have not been a fan of United’s most recent livery. The blue and white looked aged when it first came out. They have also been very slow to change over from their last livery (which I like better) to the newest one. While flying Continental recently, I realized how clean their livery looks. The blue and gold. Simple, classy and timeless.

I was really happy to see that with the merger, the United name will survive, but so will the Continental livery. The “Continental” name will be replaced with “United”, but the golden globe will stick around. I will miss the “U” from United Airlines, but overall, I think this is a very wise idea. Not only will part of Continental still survive the merger, but United will end up with a better livery.

My main fear is it will take forever for United and Continental to share the same livery, I just hope that is not the case.

Check out their merger website for the most up-to-date information.

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Back home! It is a good feeling. One downside is I have a week’s worth of stories to catch up on, since I had limited internet access. I figured I would share some of the more interesting stories I found [...]]]>

A United Airlines A320-200 lands while a Continental Boeing 737 is in the background.

Back home! It is a good feeling. One downside is I have a week’s worth of stories to catch up on, since I had limited internet access. I figured I would share some of the more interesting stories I found with you, in case you missed them too!

* Aeromexico is cutting flights after the new Arizona immigration reform, via BlueTales.
* United Airlines celebrates 80 years of having flight attendants, via Seattle PI.
* Airlines collected $7.8billion in fees last year. Yes, that is billion and yes, they will not be going away anytime soon, via Today in the Sky.
* The Boeing 787 Dreamliner lands at San Antonio for additional testing, via Randy’s Journal.
* United Airlines and Continental Airlines decide to merge, via Things in the Sky.
* Comparison how the new UAL/CO merger stacks up to its competition, via Airline Biz Blog.
* UAL/CO merger compared to TWA merger, via AviationWeek.
* Continental CEO apologizes for calling US Airways the ,”ugly girl,” via Today in the Sky.
* Monitor what your kids are watching, while flying, via Runway Girl.
* Video re-creation of the Turkish Airlines crash in Amsterdam last year, via Flight Global.

Anything else interesting happen that I might have missed?

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I am currently about 37,000 feet on a Continental Express ERJ-145. I am heading from Mazatlan, Mexico (MZT) to Houston, TX (IAH), then on to my home [...]]]>

Me in front of the first ERJ-145 I flew after landing at Mazatlan Airport. I love being able to get close to the plane on the tarmac.

I am currently about 37,000 feet on a Continental Express ERJ-145. I am heading from Mazatlan, Mexico (MZT) to Houston, TX (IAH), then on to my home in Seattle (SEA) [which will be on a Boeing 757]. Well, sort of…right now, as I write this blog, it is the morning of Saturday May 8th. My flight does not have wi-fi, but I am writing it in notepad and will post it up on Monday the 10th. Every time I am in the air, I always try to write up at least a few blogs, since I love the inspiration.

This is my second flight in a regional jet, my first being a week ago heading from IAH to MZT. It is quite amazing, with all my flying experience I have not flown on a ERJ-145. My home base is in Seattle and there just aren’t many flights with regional jets to and from SEA.

When booking my flight, I purposely choose Continental since I would be able to fly on an ERJ-145 (I know, I have heard the “airline nerd” jokes already). I have heard some positive, but mostly negative things about flying the aircraft and I was excited to check it out myself.

The 1-2 layout is nice, but small overhead-bins are only on one side.

There are a lot of people out there that do not like flying in smaller planes. They will go out of their way and pay more to avoid them. Yes, the ride can be more bumpy, there are normally less experienced pilots flying them, and it can be a tight fit. However, I think the positives out weigh the negatives.

For me, the smaller the aircraft let me feel more connected to the flying experience. I understand that some people like to forget they are in a man-made machine 37,000 feet above the ground, but not me.

I enjoy the 1-2 seat layout. There is a single seat on the left side of the plane and two seats on the right side of the plane. This means that every person either has a window or aisle seat. On both flights I sat on the single seat side. It is nice being able to see out the window and have easy access to the aisle.

The seats feel quite roomy and the ERJ-145 has 17.3″ width and 31″ pitch, which isn’t bad. The Boeing 737-800 I flew from SEA to IAH also had 31″ pitch and only 17.2″ width.

Don't make fun of my hecka-awesome shades or my man-beard. Headroom wasn't so great for being 6'1".

The ERJ-145 only holds 50 passengers, which gives it an intimate experience. I seems easier to talk to other passengers and get to know those around me. Since there are less passengers, the turn around time of the aircraft is very short (time from landing to being able to take off again). This allows airlines to provide more flight options to destinations and more flights to smaller airports.

There are a few downsides to the ERJ-145. I am currently sitting in row 17 of 19 rows. The only lavatory is located at the back of the aircraft. It seems not many people went to the restroom before taking off, since a lot of folks have made a visit back here. I could see where this would be distracting for someone wanting to sleep.

There is also very limited carry-on room. If you are trying to bring on bigger carry-ons, be prepared to have them checked. Out of the five of us travelling in my group, only two were able to bring their carry-ons aboard (and we were able to take all of them on board the Boeing 737 from SEA to IAH).

I have heard people talk about service on smaller regional aircraft can be sub-par. Even though I have experienced great service on some smaller airlines, like Horizon Air (the free beer or wine helps), I have personally seen a lower level of service when flying regional aircraft. Although I did get a free snack (this will be short lived), the flight attendants, both to and from MZT, definitely were not friendly and were quite rude to passengers. It could have just been a coincidence, but it was noticeable.

My flights to and from MZT were Continental Express, which is run by ExpressJet, however, the Continental name is on the airplane and on my ticket. I strongly feel that is a larger airline is willing to put their name on a regional airline, they are partly responsible for the quality of service one receives. Passengers should have a consistent level of service no matter what kind of aircraft they are flying.

The ERJ-145 is built by Embraer, an airplane manufacture based out of Brazil. The aircraft first flew in August 1995 and started service with airlines in 1996. To date over 1,100 ERJ’s have been manufactured. With so many ERJ-145′s out there and many more on order, I have a feeling this won’t be my last experience with this aircraft type.

Find a few more pics via my Flickr account.

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I am once again sitting at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. This time, I am on my way to Mazatlan, Mexico for some much needed R&R. This means I will not be too active on the blog during this next week, but [...]]]>

Continental Airlines ERJ-145 -- First time I will get to fly this aircraft type!

I am once again sitting at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. This time, I am on my way to Mazatlan, Mexico for some much needed R&R. This means I will not be too active on the blog during this next week, but there will still be at least something posting once per day.

Knowing me, I will try my hardest to get to the internet and see what is going on and still blog (I love this stuff). But with working a full time job and running the blog (lots of work behind the scenes too), I really can use the vacation .

I am flying out on Continental Airlines and I am excited since this will be the first time I will ride an ERJ-145. Also, this might be the last time I get free food on a Continental flight to boot!

Actually set off the metal detector (forgot to take out my iPhone — oops). I was a little nervous since I have my AirlineReporter.com tags on my bags and did a pretty critical blog on the TSA yesterday — didn’t want to get a full pat-down (and luckily didn’t get one).

Don’t worry, you will get a full report once I return. Anyone know any good aviation related stuff near Mazatlan?

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Yesterday, Continental Airlines announced they will be cutting their free food for most domestic flights starting near the end of the year. The airline will charge for meals in economy on all domestic and Canadian flights of less than six hours. However, they will be keeping free meals [...]]]>

Tail and winglet of Boeing 737-800

Yesterday, Continental Airlines announced they will be cutting their free food for most domestic flights starting near the end of the year. The airline will charge for meals in economy on all domestic and Canadian flights of less than six hours. However, they will be keeping free meals on longer flights and still offering free peanuts and drinks on all flights.

There is a lot of rumbling on the internet of “another airline caving in” and screwing over the passenger. However, I see this as a smart move and was really surprised Continental held out as long as they did.

Free food is almost non-existent on most domestic flights anywhere in the world. Passengers have come accustomed to not eating or buying food on board. I would assume that most leisure passengers weren’t even aware that Continental still served food, but it would be a nice surprise when aboard.

If passengers have the expectation to not get free food, why should Continental pay for it? Plus Continental can make additional revenue by charging for food and maybe lower their prices.

Would I love to have free food while flying? Of course. But I understand Continental’s move and with passengers demanding the lowest fares possible, I think it is a smart move for Continental to do this!

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